1940s
'''Politics and Law''' ''' The Roosevelt Era''' Franklin D. Roosevelt elected the 32nd president of the United States on November 8, 1932. He continues his political success by being reelected for a second term on November 3, 1936. After serving his second term, President Roosevelt received strong public support behind him running for a third term in office - something that was unheard of at this time. When attending the 1940 July Democratic Election, President Roosevelt asks for his party member to "draft" him into the nomination if it is their wish. He is quickly re-nominated to be the Democratic (and incumbent) candidate in the 1940 Presidential Elections. In November of 1940, Roosevelt is reelected for a third term in office, beating Republican nominee Wendell Wilkie with 55% of the popular vote. '''Government Response to World War II''' With hostilities growing in Europe, The Roosevelt administration faced difficult challenges. Should the United States enter into the war, or should it continue its isolationist policies? In the fall of 1940, the answer to this question was unclear, but the Roosevelt administration made policy decisions that seemed in favor of joining the war. In September of 1940, Congress approved the Burke-Wadsworth Act that called for the first "peace time" draft. A "land-lease" method of allowing arms to be continuously funneled to countries that the United States supported was adopted during December of 1940. Both these acts signified a significant leap by the United States government towards involvement in the War. '''A World at War''' After the German attack on the American ship "Greer" in September of 1941, Congress approved a measure allowing United States merchant ships to carry arms. This also gave permission for these ships to sail into enemy combatant ports, allowing United States soldiers to directly sail into enemy ports with weapons. These policies launched a naval war against Germany. Only a few months later, Congress voted almost unanimously (388 to 1) to approve a declaration of war between the United States and Japan. This declaration was approved on December 7, 1941, within 4 hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. On December 11, Germany, Italy, and Japan declared war on the Untied States. The same day, the United States Congress declared war on these countries without a dissenting vote. '''Drawing to a Close''' Franklin D. Roosevelt was reelected for his forth term in November of 1944. He named Harry Truman as his Vice President. When his health took a turn for the worse, leading to his death in April 1945, President Truman took over office. During this time, the United States had been developing a weapon of mass destruction - bigger than any the world had ever seen. In the summer of 1945, they tested this weapon successfully. President Truman wasted no time in demanding a Japanese surrender; if they failed to comply he would drop the Atomic Bomb on their country. At this time, the administration had a "unconditional surrender" foreign strategy, and when Japan failed to surrender by the deadline, President Truman made the call to drop the bomb on Hiroshima, killing 80,000 civilians. The next day, a bomb was dropped on Nagasaki killing 100,000 civilians. One month later, on September 2, 1945, while aboard the battleship "Missouri", the government of Japan signed the terms of surrender. '''Designing the New World ''' ''''''The United Nations''''' In February of 1945 before his death, Roosevelt met British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and General Secretary Joseph Stalin for the Yalta Conference. At this conference, world leaders began to draft the outline of what would come to be the United Nations. It would be composed to two parts, a General Assembly and the Security Council. The General Assembly would include every member of the United Nations, while the Security Council would only include the 5 major power; The United States, The United Kingdom, France, The Soviet Union, and China. The seats on the Security Council would be permanent, and would hold the only veto power in the United Nations. The United Nations charter was ratified on April 25, 1945. It was brought to the United States Senate in July of that year, and was ratified by a vote of 80-2. ''''''The Truman Doctrine and Congressional Action''''' On March 12, 1947, President Truman announced his policy to, "support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures." This would come to be known as the Truman Doctrine, and gave the United States the right to enter into countries if this policy was being violated. This doctrine was used as justification for military action overseas for the many years that followed. Congress approved the National Security Act of 1947 that year, which created a new Department of Defense that would oversee all branches of the armed forces. This act also created the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and gave the President expanded powers in times of war. In the presidential election of 1948, President Truman won over Thomas Dewey (NY) by a popular vote of 49.5% over Dewey's 45.1%. The election was very close, and President Truman's approval rating suffered greatly. The following year, The United States signed a treaty that would come to shape how the US handled problems of international security. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was signed on April 4, 1949, and included 12 nations. The premise of this treaty was simple; if one of the nations in the treaty were attacked, all the others would take it as an attack on their own country and respond as such. This established a strong relationship between the United States and many European countries that would become vital in the years to come. War and Foreign Relations '''Foreign Aggression ''' *The 1940s were completely dominated by World War I *In May of 1940, Roosevelt transferred the Pacific fleet from its California bases to a forward position at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. *Towards the end of November in 1941, intercepted Japanese messages revealed that an assault in the Pacific was ready to take place, however no one knew where it would come. *President Roosevelt had once campaigned to enter into World War II but Congress and everyone else was against it. However their opinions soon changed once the attacking of Pearl Harbor came into play. Conspiracy theorists believe that Roosevelt knew about the attack but proceeded to do nothing about it. Simply so we could enter the war, but that theory has not yet been proven. *Japanese planes launched from aircraft carriers, bombed the naval base of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii,which was the first attack by a foreign power on American soil since the War of 1812. *Over 2,000 American servicemen were killed, and 187 aircraft and 18 naval vessels including 8 battleships, had been destroyed or damaged. '''Trade Negotiations''' *In May of 1940, When France collapsed, Roosevelt began to transfer surplus U.S warships and equipment to Britain in exchange for West Indies naval Bases *The multilateral tariff reductions since World War II have taken place under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) *The GATT was signed on Oct. 30, 1947, by 23 countries. On the same day, 10 of these countries, including the United States signed a protocol which brought the agreement into force on Jan. 1, 1948. '''War on the Home Front ''' ''' ''' *Americans on the U.S mainland enjoyed complete immunity fro foreign attack- however though the public was at first against going to war until the attack of Pearl Harbor, the high demand for war products gave jobs to many Americans, bringing us out of the Great Depression *Millions of American women gladly took their places when it came to the work force, at the start of the war about a quarter or adult women worked in factories except for textile mills and sewing industries because employers and male works often discriminated against them. *Mobilization of the economy left factories begging for women workers, bringing us to an entire new level of respect. *On February 19, 1942, soon after the beginning of World War II, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. The evacuation order commenced the round-up of 120,000 Americans of Japanese heritage to one of 10 internment camps. They were forced to abandon their homes and jobs and live in the camps throughout western states. Commerce and the Economy '''Subheading''' '''Subheading''' '''Subheading''' Science and Technology '''Subheading''' '''Subheading''' '''Subheading''' Culture and Society Civil Rights During the war civil rights changed as acceptance for African-Americans grew to be over a milion fighting in the military. Even for Mexican Americans and Asian Americans the war was a good way to gain acceptance and citizenship. '''Women in the Workforce''' With all the men away at war, women joined the workforce. World War II caused a need for alot of war supplies, so americans learned to live without the luxury of new cars or other technologies. The big three ( Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler) provided for 20% of all war goods. Women worked in these factories and made war materials; and even though they only made 65% of what men made. The number of employed women rose to about 19 million as they went from less than a quarter of the workforce to being over a third by 1945 '''Subheading'''